Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) Vice President (VP) Shadik Kayem called for state recognition and honours for all martyrs of February 28, alongside rehabilitation support for martyrs’ families and the injured.
On Saturday, speaking at an event organised by Islami Chhatra Shibir Dhaka University unit at Madhur Canteen, Shadik also demanded a trial of Sheikh Hasina and her accomplices in connection with what he termed a ‘genocide’.
Four MPs, Masud Saidi (Pirojpur-1), son of Delwar Hossain Saidi; Barrister Mir Ahmed Bin Kasem Arman (Dhaka-14); Nazibur Rahman Momen (Pabna-2) and Mohammad Rayhan Siraji (Rangpur-2), attended the event.
A discussion meeting and photo exhibition, titled ‘Allama Saidi’s Verdict: 'Unjust Trial, Genocide and State Terrorism’, marked 13 years since the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Jamaat-e-Islami's Nayeb-e-Ameer Maulana Delwar Hossain Saidi to death on 28 February 2013 for crimes against humanity.
Following the verdict, clashes between joint forces and protesters continued for several days, leaving over 160 people dead, according to Shibir sources. The appellate division later commuted Saidi's death sentence to life imprisonment. He died in August 2023 while undergoing treatment at Bangladesh Medical University Hospital in Dhaka.
“Our demand to the new government will be that all martyrs of 28 February be given state honours and state recognition. At the same time, these martyrs and the injured should be rehabilitated by the state,” Shadik said.
He called for the formation of an independent commission to review verdicts delivered by the International Crimes Tribunal, claiming that ‘national leaders were unjustly tried through false accusations’ and that ‘one person’s trial was blamed on another’.
Shadik alleged that Allama Saidi was ‘killed through medical killing’ and demanded that those involved be brought to justice in ‘independent Bangladesh’. He described this as a ‘mass demand of our student community and all of us’.
DUCSU VP said that he hoped the new government would work on justice for genocide, recognition of martyrs, and rehabilitation of injured and martyrs’ families by forming an independent commission to implement the trial process properly.
“At the same time, the struggle for liberation that Allama Saidi taught us, the struggle for justice he taught us, the resistance he maintained against Indian hegemony and aggression, we must continue that struggle,” Shadik added.
DUCSU General Secretary SM Farhad, AGS Mohiuddin Khan, DU Chhatra Shibir General Secretary Ashikur Rahman and organising secretary Sajjad Hossain Khan also attended.
NRE/AM
